Nothing more
by esama
Summary: Bakura speaks to the air and tries to help it move on. Oneshot


**Nothing more**

Yami blinked once, twice and still couldn't believe his eyes. Not more than twenty meters away, underneath a cherry tree sat Bakura - the darker half of Ryô Bakura. The thief was dressed into his school uniform that was casually open from the front, the Millennium Ring resting on his chest, his hands stretched back underneath his neck to pillow his head as he leaned onto the cherry tree's trunk. Not that there was anything wrong with that, now that Ryô and Bakura were separated it wasn't a rarity at all seeing the white haired thief hanging around the school yard.

But usually Bakura did not talk amongst himself. And now he was. Not in that fashion where you're singing to your self or mumbling about things you want to remember better. He wasn't even actually discussing himself, either. No, he was discussing with the air beside him, now and then glancing to his right with the slightest bit of a frown as if his discussion wasn't going into the direction he wished it to go. Now and then he would roll his eyes, take one of his hands from behind his neck and motion at something - at the school, at the people, demonstrate something… as if in a real discussion. Except there was no one to his right, nothing but air.

Had the Thief King lost it finally? As Yami's ego wished to sneer and say that the Thief King was always a few cards short of a full deck, he knew that no matter how crazy Bakura was, he wasn't crazy in that 'seeing things that aren't there and hearing voices no one can hear' way. And most definitely not in the way where you started to talk to nothing. As much as Yami hated to admit it, Bakura was too smart for that.

So what was this? Bakura was staring at the empty air again, frowning once more, annoyed. Curious, worried, confused, Yami crept closer to hear what the thief was saying - to determine if there really was something there he could not see and hear or if the thief had finally lost it.

"…don't give me that look!" the white haired dark growled. "You know I'm right. I know this must suck so bad for you, but you should see it as an opportunity. You could take off and see the world! Like this you could go everywhere and do anything - and stop looking at me like that, damn it!" he was glaring at the air now. "You have nothing here. Nothing. No, not even him. He can't see you, he can't hear you, and he doesn't know you even exist! Oh, damn… don't start crying again…"

Yami watched with shock and confusion as the thief king stopped leaning back and reached out to touch the air beside him, as if laying his hand on someone's back, rubbing up and down in a somewhat comforting manner. "It's been two weeks already," the thief murmured with a frown. "You're still crying. Listen, I'm doing everything I can here, but you know I can't actually help you. I can't change you back to normal, I can't change things back to normal, and you know damn well that I'm not any good at comforting you either…"

"Why do you still stick around here, little one?" the thief sounded almost sad now - almost. "You should just go. Anywhere, somewhere… there's only pain for you here. You'd probably be happier in the afterlife than you are here - no, no, don't do that. I'm not going to harm you, damn, I promised you, didn't I? I'm not going to kill you, silly little one. Why would I, there wouldn't be any satisfaction in it now… and don't look at me with those eyes again."

With a heavy sigh the thief leaned back against the tree trunk, one hand pillowing his head while his other one continued to soothingly rub circles onto the air. "What I mean to say is that… well, damn it, what do you have in here? What's keeping you here? Him?" he eyed the air for a moment with disbelieving eyes. "Does sticking around someone who can't acknowledge you at all really mean so much to you? By Ra, I really don't know how you do it."

There was a short pause. "As flattering as that is, I'm not the same, am I?" the thief asked humourlessly. "Sure, I can see you - somewhat anyway - and almost hear you too, but that's not really enough, is it? It's not like I was ever your friend or anything. Yes, Ryô was, but I'm not Ryô, now am I? Blah, that means squat. And you got it backwards anyway. I'm not his yami, he is my hikari. I was first and he came second, so he is to me and I was to him… yeah, you understand. Oh, trust me; the order makes all the difference. Just look at Malik and his yami. No function between them whatsoever because they had the order back wards - hikari first, yami second. It just doesn't work that way, darkness cannot exist inside light normally; it's the other way around."

"Hey, wait, what…" Bakura looked a bit surprised, his eyes almost like following something to his chest. "What the hell are you doing? We are not this comfortable with each other, you know. I'm not this comfortable with anyone - get the hell off from my - hey… wait, when was the last time you slept properly? Where do you actually sleep these days? In the park?! It was raining yesterday! Shit, don't tell me you're getting sick on me now…"

Yami watched silently as Bakura touched the air with his fingers, as if smoothing his palm over something. "Shit, you have a fever… that is the last thing someone in your condition needs. Shit, shit…" the white haired thief grumped before sitting up and working the air with his hands as if positioning someone better. Then he stood as if carrying something invisible in his arms in a bridal style. He stared down to his right side. "What? You're sick; I'm going to see if Ryô has something that will make you better. That's what people do, right? Right…"

Yami stepped out of the bushes where he had been hiding. Now if that wasn't strange then he didn't know what was. Curiously he walked to the spot where Bakura had been sitting, and blinked at what he saw there. In the grass there was only one but two imprints, as if there really had been someone sitting beside the thief. With a frown yami looked after the thief and wondered what the hell was going on.

-

Ryô frowned a little while letting his book pack fall to the floor. Bakura had skipped from school again - not that it was anything new, but it made him wonder. Why was the thief even attending to school if he had no intentions of being on in the classes? With a sigh Ryô shook his head. Probably to get closer to Yami, to be in a position where he could get some information out of his enemy.

Running his hand through his hair, Ryô headed for the kitchen. The chances of Bakura being home were slight slim even on a normal day, and on days when he decided to leave school too early he usually wandered around the city, stealing people's wallets. Ryô had at first berated him for it, but when you thought of about it, pick pocketing wasn't even nearly as bad as real robberies and murders, and Bakura was skilled enough for both. In any case, his dark was rarely home, only to sleep and eat actually, so he shouldn't be here -

With a frown Ryô stopped. Was that voices he heard? And coming from the guestroom-transformed-into-Bakura's-room? Yes it was. And Ryô could feel curiosity raising its ugly head. Had Bakura actually brought someone home? That had never happened.

Sneaking towards Bakura's door, Ryô stilled to listen. "…the hell if I know," he could hear Bakura's annoyed grumble. "I'm really not good at any of these. Can't you just tell which you need to take? I mean, you know more of this stuff than I probably ever will. Just point which of these will help you with that fever, okay? What…? Water? Oh, right, sorry."

Ryô jumped back when he heard Bakura's steps - they had to be Bakura's because only he walked that way, his heels never touching the floor. Trying to look like he was minding his own business, Ryô turned around as the door was opened… but Bakura didn't even notice him. The thief just walked to the kitchen, leaving his bedroom door ajar. Soon Ryô could hear him rummaging through the closets.

Curiosity once more getting the best of him, Ryô sneaked forward to take a peak into Bakura's room, to see whom Bakura had been talking to. But there was no one, the messy bedroom was empty. On the table underneath the window Ryô could see the entire collection of all the medicine they usually kept in a drawer in the kitchen. With a frown Ryô scanned the room again. No, there really was no one there.

"Who were you talking to?" Ryô couldn't help asking when Bakura returned with a large glass full of water.

"Don't be stupid, there's no one there," Bakura grunted with discomfort, slipped past him into his room, and pretty much slammed the door shut right to his face.

Ryô huffed slightly. He was adjusted to Bakura's rudeness, but to slam a door in his face in his own home? The angry hikari was about to turn away and leave when he heard Bakura speak again in the room. "Oh, man, don't fall asleep on me now. Yo, wake up. Take the medicine and then fall asleep, okay? Come on…"

Ryô frowned and leaned closer to listen. "I know you're tired, I would be too in your position, but take the medicine first, okay?" he heard Bakura say in a half annoyed half worried tone. "I don't want you dying on me, okay? No, don't do that, you're not going to die, damn it. Just… take the freaking medicine. Yeah, first you need to point it out to me; I don't know which one of them… this one? Okay, how many? Right. Careful you're spilling the water on my bed, you know!"

There was a short silence before Ryô could hear Bakura place the water glass down on the desk. "Okay. Now you can sleep. No I'm not going anywhere; I don't really have anything better to do. No, I really don't. Stop giving me those eyes and… just go to sleep, you brat."

Again there was a silence before a heavy sigh. "What will I do with you?" Bakura mumbled into the silence.

Ryô leaned back with a disturbed frown. Was Bakura really talking to himself as if there was someone there? Gods forbid… was the thief getting delusional or something? With a shake of his head, Ryô walked towards the kitchen one more time. He had witnessed many strange things lately, but this one took the cake.

Only later he remembered that there had been an impression on Bakura's bed when he had looked in - as if someone invisible had really been laying there.

-

Jonouchi frowned a bit at what he saw. Was that really Bakura walking there? Yeah, only Ryô and Bakura had white hair like that and Ryô's wasn't as spiky as Bakura's, so it had to be the thief… but what was he doing? For a moment Jonouchi thought he was playing air guitar, which on in it self was a ridiculous idea, but then he noticed that the thief's hands were barely moving. It was as if he was carrying something in his arms… but there was nothing there, was there? Nothing he could see anyway.

Wanting to know if the thief was - once more - up to something, Jonouchi trailed after the white haired former-spirit as the man walked down the streets. It was late evening, the sun was setting in the direction where Bakura was walking - in the direction of the park - but the streetlamps weren't lit yet. Seeing Bakura out this late wasn't anything strange, the thief was probably one of those people who slept during the day and went on about their days durring the night. But what was he doing? This wasn't his usual neighbourhood away, was this?

"…you're even stranger than you were before, you know," the Thief King mused as if talking to someone. "You've always been a freaky little brat, but this is definitely strange even for you. Sunset, bah. It was the same yesterday and the day before and it will be the same tomorrow, so what's really the point? And beside s, you're sick; you should still be in bed."

Jonouchi nearly stopped. Who was the thief talking to? There was no one there. After glancing around to be sure, the blonde turned his eyes back to the thief. Had the robber finally lost it?

"Ah, I see. It reminds you of him. Well, I suppose that makes sense, seeing that he is named after the god of the setting sun," the thief shook his head. "I still don't see why you bother, though. I sure as hell wouldn't… yeah, I suppose you're right. You don't really have anything else of him, huh? Nothing but the sunset… that's really sad, even for you."

"Don't look at me with those eyes, damn it, how many times have I told you to stop looking at me like that?!" Bakura growled and shook his head. "And don't get all teary on me again; you know I'm worth squat when it comes to comforting someone. Especially you. Even if you settle for so damn little."

"Shit," the thief sighed heavily. They were at the park now, and he was taking a seat in one bench where you got a nice view to the sunset over the small pond that was in the middle of the park. "I still don't understand why you stick around here . No, I don't mean the park; I know why you stick around the park. Just… why you stay here?" he motioned at the area around him. "In this neighbourhood, in this city, in this country… in this world? Wouldn't you just be happier somewhere else ? Somewhere where the people… well, somewhere where they aren't around?"

"Friends, hah! What kind of friends forget the existence of someone to the point that they turn invisible and lose their voice, huh? What kind of friends will replace one with another? They did this to you. You know it's true. Your setting sun started it all, you know. Your inner magic just reacted - yes, you have inner magic, all of you do, you just don't know how to use… I'm not sure if anyone knows how to use it. Light magic differs from Shadow Magic as greatly as heaven differs from oceans…"

Jonouchi frowned a little. Bakura was holding his arms as if hugging someone who was sitting in his lap. "That's why I can't help you, you know. Like this you're beyond the influence of my magic entirely. Well, just look at yourself. This isn't something Shadow Magic can do, you know. This is a magician's reaction to neglect, desertion, rejection and betrayal. Your reaction to how they treated you. And seeing that all of them forgot you entirely, your reaction was pretty much justified. Usually these things don't work, the people you knew still have memories of you, but these ones… only I remember you and that's only because I can still somewhat see you."

"Hmm…" the thief leaned back. "I guess it's because I didn't betray you like they did. I never was close enough to you to be able to betray you and I never cared for you enough to begin neglecting you. And when you finally faded out of sight, I wasn't there. So I still can see you, or what ever is left of you anyway. Transparency doesn't really suit you, by the way, and the glow is rather distracting…"

There was a long silence as the thief king stared into the sunset. "You know," the white haired former spirit murmured. "I'm not sure if I've ever watched the sun set here in Domino. I've seen it in Egypt - Kemet - but not here," he chuckled roughly. "It's not really a bad sight at all…"

Jonouchi shook his head and walked away, thinking that Bakura had finally lost all of his marbles.

-

"…eat, you know," a voice interrupted Anzu's thought s, stopping her in the middle of her step. Looking around for the source of the voice, she heard it again. "Death by starvation isn't really that comfortable. No, I don't know what it's really like, but I've been starved and that is not nice in any case. Just… eat this. It's not much but it should settle your stomach. You're still weak after being sick; you need your strength back. Unless you really do want to die."

Soon the girl found the source of the voice, it was Bakura… who was handing a chocolate bar into the air? Anzu blinked a bit at the sight of the thief sitting on the grass in the shade of the school building. He was looking at the air beside him as if there was supposed to be someone there.

"Because if you do want to die, there are many better ways to go than by starvation. Self starvation is considered a suicide, you know, if you starve yourself to death you'll never make it to the afterlife…" the thief king looked at the air expectantly for a moment before sighing and lowering his hand. "Fine, suit yourself," he murmured and leaned back against the wall of the school.

"Yo, Anzu!" someone spoke behind her, and was quickly granted with a shushing motion from her. Glancing behind her she saw Honda, who was walking towards her, hanging his book pack over his shoulder. Anzu motioned him to be quiet and then motioned to the spot where Bakura was sitting.

"Nah," the thief shook his head, glancing at the air. " I don't really feel like it today. Well, it's not like I never skip school anyway. I actually don't really know why I started going there in the first place, because as I see it it's one of the most boring things one can do," he snorted and looked at the air amusedly. "You liked school, did you? What, you didn't? Strange, I always thought… oh, I see. Your friends again."

"Has he lost it?" Honda whispered to Anzu with a frown.

"I don't know," the girl answered quietly.

"Not really good friends, were they? Yes, were. It's not like they're around you know, is it?" Bakura shook his head and looked lazily up to the sky. "Nothing really lasts, you know. Heck, I should know, all I knew in my childhood was trampled over by one thing and then another until there is only ruins and rubble left. Now a days it's all just a tourist attraction. Makes me sick to my stomach."

"And Duel Monsters, a freaking card game. This world is really upside down," the thief closed his eyes before opening one and peering at the air. "Ending with you. Yes, you. Your situation is like the crowning of this all. Heart of the cards and power of friendship my ass. Yeah, clutch onto those cards, to that picture, but you know they won't help you at all. When a magician's heart is broken, that's it. It takes a miracle to mend it."

"Yeah, you are a magician. Not really a normal one, nothing like Mahado and Mana and all the other idiots. You're like… a new breed of magicians, born from the sheer weirdness of this all," the thief motioned at the area before him. "I guess if you would be a magician, you would be one of light or faith or something. Don't look at me like that, damn you. I'm right, you know. You are the total opposite of the strongest Shadow Magician ever; it's bound to reason that you would have your own powers. And you do, your situation is enough proof. Only a powerful magician can do that to themselves."

"I'm not saying that it's your fault," Bakura rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It's a reaction, kind of a self mechanism or something. Like those lizards which change color to match with their back ground - no, I'm not saying that you're a lizard, stop taking things so literally. You were hurt so badly by those so called friends of yours that you automatically reacted, fading away a bit by bit until they can't see you anymore, can't hear you. Your magic thinks that this way you're safe and maybe you are, but that doesn't stop your heart from breaking any further, does it ?"

"The fact that they forgot you is their doing entirely," the thief shook his head. "Their reaction to your absence, I suppose. They can't see you, hear you or sense you at all, so they assume you never existed at all. Considering that it didn't take more than a few days for them to forget you entirely, they didn't acknowledge you that well in the beginning either."

"Action and reaction. Their action, your reaction. And you reacted so strongly that nothing can help you now. Not even you yourself," the white haired thief snorted and shook his head before glancing at the air. "Don't tell me you're going to start crying again; haven't you done enough of that lately? It doesn't help, you know. Crying. It only makes you feel weaker."

Anzu and Honda glanced at each other as the former-spirit sighed heavily before reaching his hands to the air as if embracing someone, pulling someone invisible into his lap. "You should go, little one, you really should go. I'm only making you feel worse," the thief murmured, rubbing the air comfortingly.

The school bell rang, causing the two eavesdroppers to jump. Anzu glanced at Honda, and then the two of them were running towards the school entrance, both planning on telling what they had seen to Yami, hoping that the King of Games would have some sort of explanation.

-

By the time school was over tales had been exchanged and Yami, Ryô, Jonouchi, Anzu and Honda were all worried. If only one of them had seen Bakura talk to himself it could've been listed as some strange prank of the thief's, but all of them had seen it and all of them were one mind on one thing. The Thief King honestly believed that there was someone there, someone only he could see and touch.

So they set out to find the thief, hoping to get some kind of explanation, maybe find out what was wrong with the former-spirit. Even if Yami and Ryô couldn't shake the feeling that maybe there really was something there, something only Bakura could interact with, the others just believed he had lost his mind. In any case, all of them wanted to know what was going on.

They found the thief from in the park, standing near the pond, underneath one of the cherry trees. When they heard that he was talking again, they quieted down and sneaked closer, wanting to hear what he was saying before they would confront him.

"You sure?" the thief was asking. "Sure, I can do it, but I don't want you to do this just because I told you to. It is a damn big step, you know. You would never be able to come back, after all. Well, it's not like I know how things are ran run there, but I have never really seen anyone come back from there."

There was silence for a moment, his eyes trailing across the air as if following someone who was moving. "I know I would," he answered to the air. "Move on, I mean. It's not that I'm suicidal or anything, but when my time comes I won't hesitate. If I was in your position I would've already moved on, but you're not me, so…"

Again there was a short silence before the thief finally nodded and stepped back. "As you will, little light," He raised his hands to hold onto the Millennium Ring, holding it up a bit. "Goodbye, Yugi. It was kind of nice knowing you, in these last two weeks anyway."

Nothing happened. After a moment Bakura just sighed and lowered his hands, letting the Item fall to rest against his chest again. He let his eyes wander in the park, finally stopping to stare over the pond with an unreadable expression on his face.

Finally Yami stepped forward to confront the thief. "Who was that, Bakura?" he asked with a frown.

Bakura glanced at him and at the others standing behind him. Then he looked over the pond while the warm breeze tugged on his hair. Finally he just shrugged and turned to leave. "'Tis the wind and nothing more."

---

I should say something about this, but nothing really comes to mind. Just a one shot thingy, the idea wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. "'Tis the wind and nothing more" comes from the poem Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Beta read by: Superhumansaiyajin 06-10-07


End file.
